Take a look.

Thanks to Shirley, the Hoosier, for the pic.

Rick James, a musician who was best known for his recording of “Super Freak” was found dead in his home on August 6th. He was a crack cocaine devotee who once identified himself as an “icon of drug use and eroticism.” By age 56, had had already survived a stroke, had a pacemaker, and suffered from diabetes.

Because he had not recently seen a doctor, an autopsy was performed. The coroner’s report noted that nine drugs were found in his system, including cocaine, methamphetamine, Valium and Vicodin. Presumably because the amounts of the drug found were not, in themselves or in combination, life-threatening, the coroner’s report listed cause of death as a heart attack and ruled the death “accidental.”

Super Freak? Super Stupid Sad.

At a time when the Newark Housing Authority has had to lay off 99 people, its Executive Director, Harold Lucas, whose salary is $190,000 ($30,000 more than the mayor), has been renovating his office with taxpayer money, to include a $2,850 42-inch plasma television. Indeed the total cost of renovations during the past 18 months is approximately $400,000.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington (“HUD”) has recently sent Mr. Lucas a letter questioning the Authority’s spending practices, which include a payment in June of $25,000 to Kelstar Rising Inc., a non-profit organization run by Mr. Lucas’s daughter. In addition, Mr. Lucas’s wife, son, daughter-in-law and sister-in-law are employed by the Housing Authority and are paid a combined $190,942.

There is a bit of irony in HUD investigating Mr. Lucas’s running of the Newark Housing Authority, because Mr. Lucas had served as HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing in the Clinton Administration. In September 1998, during the hearings on Mr. Lucas’s nomination to the federal post, Senator Frank Lautenberg told the members of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, “I can personally attest to [Mr. Lucas’s] integrity and ability to work well within a larger organization.”

Ooooooookay, Frank.

I’ll bet we all know someone who is losing his hair, and rather than going with it, does the “comb over” thing. Well, you know what they say about people and their dogs.

Teresa: “Who is that woman?”

John: “What woman, dear?”

Teresa: “You dopey bastard. Do you see anybody else in this room? The woman on the television; the black woman; the one making some kind of speech.”

John: “You’re kidding, right?”

Teresa: “Are you trying to make an ass of me? If I goddamn knew who she was, I wouldn’t have asked you. All I know is that she has those goofy teeth. She must have been a thumb sucker. Every time I see her on television, I change the station.”

John: “That is Condoleezza Rice.”

Teresa: “Condo-what?”

John: “Condo-leezza…Condoleezza Rice.”

Teresa: “Never heard of her. Why is she on the goddamn television all the time?”

John: “Teresa, she’s the President’s Chief National Security Advisor.”

Teresa:

John:

Teresa: “Well, when we’re elected, I want that job.”

John: “Muffin, I think we have to discuss…..”

Teresa: “There you go again with that ‘I think’ shit. I warned you about that. Pay attention, Groin Puss. I want that goddamned job, and you’ll damned well make it happen.”

John:

Teresa: “Now, get lost. Access Hollywood is coming on.”

John:

Today, U.S. District Court Judge Garret Brown dismissed a lawsuit that had been brought by two New Jersey attorneys seeking to force a special election for the governor’s office.

As I noted here, the basis of the lawsuit was that, by announcing his resignation on August 12th, Governor McGreevey effectively created a vacancy as of that date, and because the “vacancy” existed prior to September 3rd, the State Constitution requires that a special election be held.

The Court ruled that, because the Governor remains in office, no “vacancy” exists, and, as such, there is no requirement for a special election. This means that the president of the senate (Richard Codey) will act as governor (and also remain as the president of the state senate!) through November 2005.

No surprises there.

The attorneys vowed to bring the case in state court.

I’m not holding my breath waiting for a special election in November.

For a while, there had been considerable speculation in the state about whether Governor McGreevey would actually leave office, as promised, on November 15th, given that he had never formally submitted his written resignation. Roberto of DynamoBuzz has written extensively on this (e.g. here), as has Fausta of The Bad Hair Blog (e.g. here). TigerHawk also has weighed in on the question.

The speculation, fueled by stories of Raymond Lesniak, a state senator and McGreevey loyalist, testing the water for a possible McGreevey “un-resignation,” drove both parties in Trenton bonkers. The democrats complained that they are preparing to cash in run the state under the leadership of Richard Codey, the president of the state senate who will replace Governor McGreevey after November 15th and that the possibility of an “un-resignation” is disruptive of that process. The republicans were threatening impeachment proceedings if the Governor were to “un-resign” (He did, after all, put his supremely unqualified boyfriend in charge of New Jersey’s homeland security for $80,000 with an insta-raise to $110,000).

It now appears that the Governor will leave office, as originally stated, on November 15th.

My guess is that he probably already has his TV appearances booked and his publisher lined up.

Remember David D’Amiano? He is the large financial contributor and former friend of Governor McGreevey, who was indicted for extorting cash and political contributions from a New Jersey farmer in exchange for favorable treatment by the state in connection with proceedings concerning payment by the state for condemnation of the farmer’s property. I wrote about it here.

In the course of the federal investigation, the Governor had admitted: (a) that he was the person identified in the multi-count indictment as “State Official 1,” and (b) that it was his voice on the tape (the farmer had been wired by the feds) using the word “Machiavelli” during a meeting with the farmer.

The indictment charged that the word “Machiavelli” was a code word to let the farmer know that any state official uttering the word was “in” on the unlawful deal.

Well, today Mr. D’Amiano pleaded guilty to the charges. In the course of pleading guilty (a very formal proceeding held in open court in which the defendant acknowledges understanding the consequences of pleading guilty and admits, under oath, to having, committed the violations charged), Mr. D’Amiano acknowledged that he had spoken to “State Official 1” on Feb. 18, 2003, which prompted the official to say ‘Machiavelli’” at a subsequent meeting with the farmer.

Let’s review, shall we?

— The Governor admits that he is the person identified in the indictment as “State Official 1”

— The Governor admits that it is his voice on the tape using the word “Machiavelli” in a conversation with the farmer.

— The farmer had been told that he should listen for the code word “Machiavelli,” which would signify that the government official saying the word was OK with the bribery deal.

— The farmer meets Governor McGreevey at a political function and the Governor uses the word “Machiavelli”.

— D’Amiano admits that he had spoken with “State Official 1,” which was the cause of State Official 1 using the word Machiavelli when he met with the farmer.

— “Machiavelli” is generally not a word that pops up in most conversations.

For his part, the Governor, through his spokesperson, said that it was D’Amiano who had introduced the word “Machiavelli” into a conversation with him and that he (the Governor) later innocently used the word as a literary allusion when he spoke with the farmer at the political function.

The grand jury investigation is ongoing, as is the hunt for the real killer in the O.J. Simpson case.

John: “Muffin, I need to talk with you for a minute, okay?”

Teresa: “Dammit John, my masseur is waiting. You have sixty seconds. Go.”

John: “Well, I wanted to say that I don’t think it was a very good idea for you to refer to people who would not agree with my health plan as ‘idiots’.”

Teresa: “Do you really feel that way, Johnny?”

John: “Yes, Muffin, I do, and I’m so glad we can talk about it.”

Teresa: “I have an idea. Why don’t you take my cell phone into the next room and call someone who might give a shit what you think.”

John: “Muffin, I am saying this for your own good. I think you could have been blindsided by the press, because you talked about my health plan without knowing exactly what my health plan is.”

Teresa: “Well, that makes two of us, doesn’t it, Scrotum Face.”

John:

But, I find this to be sickening.

Thanks to Mike for the link.